Is xenForo Dying?

If anyone would know whether there was a future for XenForo then Kier would know. He just converted his Space Battles forum, why bother if the software will die soon?

He just finished moving the IGN boards to Xenforo too. If he wants to keep his credibility in forum software circles he would never do that unless he knows the software is not going anywhere.

I think the worst we can expect is for 1.2 to be delayed into Q3 or Q4 of 2012 and that's hardly the end of the world.

 

In terms of what people expect from the leading forum software companies now worth using (which XenForo is supposed to be) up there with IPB and vBulletin. You really couldn't be more wrong with that statement. Q4, your talking about people waiting 9-11 months for an update! People won't hang around very long using that forum software company making such slow progress. Especially not when your paying to use it as well.

Another thing also, has anyone else picked up on what seems some strange going ons now with the court case covered by Shamil. Recently he was very hesitant about showing documents unless Kier and Ashley OK'd things. Now I'm reading another latest document has been moved from public to private (not for viewing). None of this was happening before?

Going back to bed in a sec, just woke up and having a quick drink

 

I wouldnt be very happy about the release date of 1.2 being set back to Q3 or Q4 but I remember a similar panic about 1.1 and how it was never going to be released. Some users went on about the lack of a concrete release date for 1.1 as though it meant XenForo was dead.

This time we should at least wait till Q3 before we start digging XenForo's grave all over again.

As for Shamil he didnt make a secret of the reasons, he said he had released a document which was not meant for public release yet and so he had put it into private until it was time. He did something similar a few days ago where he waited to tell us that the UK case was frozen pending the US case. Nothing irregular in that.

 

Do your math. We are month away from Q3 and 4 away from Q4, so month-seven months at most.

 

The start of it only, bit wishful thinking that your going to see a release made on the first day of every quarter isn't it. And we're already midway through Q2 (second month) and there no XenForo 1.2 here still? My maths are correct!

Anyway, the point is nobody will be willing to keep waiting that long for very long, not more anyhow and they'd soon leave back to IPB or vBulletin on seeing them making very frequent releases. What about when BUGS get spotted and reported early on, you think people are willing to wait 7 months before seeing them finally fixed - na!

 

Do you suggest that sevent months from now is beginning of new quarter?

 

No

Q1 (Jan, Feb, Mar)
Q2 (Apr, May, Jun)
Q3 (Jul, Aug, Sep)
Q4 (Oct, Nov, Dec)

All this is totally irrelevant anyway. The person above was talking about people waiting until Q3,4 for releases to be made each year. That's the main point at hand. You could have bugs getting reported as early as Jan, then only getting fixed in a release made from Jul to Dec. Way too long for people to be waiting.

 

So do you think that's acceptable?

 

Well, if it was up to me I would be releasing bug fixes every two weeks and features when development branch is solid

 

If XenForo are still developing the software (albeit slowly) no-one is going to run off to IPB or vB on that basis alone. That's unless those companies bring out a product which is miles better. You're forgetting that most XenForo customers were on IPB and vBulletin before they came to XF.

Why would we move back purely based on slow development of an awesome product we like in favour of frequent development on a product we've already rejected?

I left vBulletin to come to XenForo because I hate vB4 and my vB3 board was buggier than an ant colony. I opened a ticket with vBulletin and they told me to go talk to vBseo. Then vBseo gave me headaches for not remembering my password and I had to end up googling how to get it changed. I'm no technical whizz and I found the whole vB setup to be unnecessarily complicated and archaic.

In contrast I set up, skinned and modded my XenForo forum myself with advice from Brogan, Jake and EQnoble. Why on Earth would I want to go back to vBulletin when my members love the change to XenForo and the board is busier than it has been in 2 years. We had 226 users online in a day last week which is a new record for us.

You make no sense. The only reason that I would go back to vB would be if they released a better and more user friendly product which had the same and more features. Slow development on a quality product is annoying but it's preferable to fast development of a load of rubbish!

If you want to continue to bash XF then stick to complaining about the lag in resolving bugs which would be far more likely to result in an exodus than slow development. But given my experience with vB they were pretty useless with bugs too, at least the XF bugs are minor headaches and not major issues like users typing out a page long post and pressing submit and ending up on the homepage with their post lost!

 

Another thing about going back is that I will miss so many XenForo features. For example when I visit this site I feel lost without alerts. I dont know if any of the threads I posted in have got replies without going and checking the thread physically.

It just feels like stepping into the past. In many ways this forum is quite impressive and has some cool features but we come here to post and the long winded way of checking each forum to see if your posts have been replied to has gone the way of the dodo thanks to XF.

 

Meanwhile on Xenforo, ex-moderator and highest posting ex-member Brogan's status is "gul·li·ble: Adjective - Easily persuaded to believe something. Synonyms - credulous - naive - trustful".

Mike has still not posted since March 20 - that's over two months ago now.

Kier has not posted for a week.

Ashley has not posted anything since May 7th.

Fanbois continue to insist nothing is wrong and anyone suggesting there is should be patronised and/or censored.

 

Meanwhile -- here is a new avatar I just noticed on Xenforo

 

Well the reason why it says gul·li·ble, is because I'm still sticking with what I said from the very get go with people laughing about me saying it. That status update comment makes total sense to me, yes I do get the crack it's intended to mean. But what he doesn't get though, I've simply played along taking part in the same game. So who's the gul·li·ble one really?

Not sure what you mean by that. That person using that avatar has been there for ages, and using that same avatar?

 

first time I saw the avatar

 

Well have a look at what Floris has recently posted on his blog:

http://mrfloris.com/article/1589/got-a-startup-avoid-depression/


Got a startup? Avoid depression!

I am going to keep this short and simple.

You have friends, visit the ones that aren't tech orientated or do the same as you.
Read the newspaper, there's more around you than what occupies you 24/7.
Take walks, frequently.
Visit some of your customers in person.
Keep a personal journal. Nope, not a blog.
Talk to a mentor, or even a therapist.
Appreciate the time you have, take days off, a vacation.

A healthy mind and body gets you closer to your long term goals.
Arrogantly assuming you know best won't.

 

Sorry, I don't get it? Don't even know what he's referring to there, himself, talking in general, or about someone else?

At times he seems to talk in riddles for me Floris.

 

I would tender that by "startup" he means "startup business", and he talks about "visiting your customers personally" which could be a reference to Mike and Kier not posting in the company forums.

I believe he is implying that at least one of the XF team is suffering from depression and has neglected the business as a result.

I'm not saying he's right, there's no evidence for that at all. I just think that is almost certainly what he is referring to.

 

Bloody hell Mark, where did you pull that one out the hat from what Floris said? You have your Sherlock Holmes hat on tonight? :lol2:

 

It's *completely obvious* from reading it, given that he's just very publicly flounced from XenForo.

They have actually deleted his account, his posts are now marked as guest posts.